


Funerals and Forgiveness

by Magi_Zumurrd



Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Apologies, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Forgiveness, Funeral, Temporary Character Death, Varian is a little shit, first fic, read and review
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magi_Zumurrd/pseuds/Magi_Zumurrd
Summary: inspired by a tumblr post by Princess Jaqueline Chess (https://princessjaqulinechess1031.tumblr.com/)Cassandra: We are gathered here today to remember a traitorous son of a bitch that got what was coming to him.Rapunzel: Cass, please, it’s Varian’s funeral, be respectful.Varian: *still very much alive in the coffin* And damn, this is for a distraction but just tell me how you really feel Cass.I'm pretty sure she has an account here too, so if someone knows it comment so that I can gift this to her!





	Funerals and Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrincessJaqulineChess1031](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessJaqulineChess1031/gifts).



Rapunzel looks out at the pews of the cathedral.  She can’t believe it, and yet the evidence is looking her in the eyes.  It’s cold, and the sky outside is gray, like her mood.  She looks around at the others, all dressed in black mourning garb, even the guards having forgone their flashy golden armor for something a bit more subdued, more befitting of such a somber occasion.  A coffin lies in front of them.  In it lays Varian.  If Rapunzel didn’t know better, she’d say he was asleep.  He looks so peaceful, all the stress of the past year wiped away.

 _Why?_ she muses, looking at the blue stripe in his hair.  _Why did you do it?  You only had a month left._

Cassandra steps up to a podium and takes a deep breath.  “We are gathered here today,” she begins somberly, “to remember a traitorous son of a bitch that got what was coming to him.”  Rapunzel glares at her.

“Cass, please,” she admonishes, “it’s Varian’s funeral, be respectful.”  A familiar chuckle rises from the open casket.

“And damn,” a mischievous, youthful voice says, “this is for a distraction but just tell me how you really feel Cass.”  Varian sits up and meets Rapunzel’s eyes.  “Hello, Princess.”  He smirks, but for the first time in years, there is no malice in it.  He looks like the child that helped Cass save the science Expo, the one who was so certain he was going to win.

Rapunzel rushes down the stairs and throws her arms around the boy.  “Varian!” she cries, “thank goodness you’re alright!”  Slowly, like he isn’t sure if he should, he returns the hug. 

“Yeah,” he murmurs, “I’m fine.  But I needed to talk to you, and you weren’t exactly coming down to my cell.”  He pulls back from the hug and smiles at the gathered ‘mourners.’  “Thanks for the help guys!”  They laugh good-naturedly and leave.

Rapunzel blinks.  She blinks again.  She shakes her head, trying to make sense of it all.  “Wait, so you didn’t stab yourself?  Why didn’t you just tell someone you wanted to talk to me?  I would have come, I just thought you wouldn’t want me too.”

Varian stretches.  “I needed to talk to you somewhere that you wouldn’t be worried about me tricking you, or with any barriers.  We both needed to be equal for this.”  He turns to her with a strange look in his eye.  “We need to talk about how both of us messed up.”

Rapunzel’s eyes widen, suddenly realizing what he means.  “You want to talk about what happened with your dad…”

“And everything after that.  Yes.”  He stands up out of the coffin and heads over to one of the pews.  He sits down and looks at a stained glass window.  “I won’t say that I didn’t make mistakes, but it’s not all my fault.”

Rapunzel follows him, and sits down.  “I know.  I should have helped when you asked–”

“No.”

She stops mid-sentence.  “What?”

“No, you shouldn’t have helped me during the blizzard.  You had to think of the kingdom, and were in the middle of a crisis.”  He looks at her with a spark of cold anger in his eyes.  “But you could have come later.”

Rapunzel blinks.  She tries to remember what happened the days after the storm… “Sugarbee… my mural…”  Varian nods.

“As princess, you have a duty to your people, and that duty is to help them whenever possible.  I know that Sugarbee was a threat, but from what Friedborg told me, she wasn’t one that Cass and Eugene couldn’t have handled themselves.”  He sighs heavily.  “And that day in the vaults.  I was already pretty far gone by then, but even so, if you hadn’t promised, if you’d thought about why _I specifically_ was doing it, maybe it would’ve had a different outcome.  I’m sorry for using you, but at that point, I didn’t care about you, or Corona.  I still don’t really, I just see why what I did was wrong.  I shouldn’t have sent that automaton to the castle, shouldn’t have…” he shudders, like he’s remembering something he’d rather forget, “used Ruddiger like that, shouldn’t have kidnapped your mom, shouldn’t have done _any_ of that, but I just wanted my dad back.  I had tried everything I could think of, and nothing worked.  So I did what I had to, and you know what?  It worked.  Until it didn’t.  I had everything I needed, my plan had worked perfectly, I knew you were going to pull a bluff and try to sneak in, I planned for that.  I planned for _everything…”_

“Except my hair not working…” Rapunzel gasps.  “Varian, I’m–”

“Don’t apologize for something that you had no control over.  Now,” he turns his face to hers, “what have I done to wrong you?  What’s your side of the story, what do you want me to apologize for?”

Rapunzel is taken aback.  Is this real?  Is Varian asking for her to list off his crimes, his offences, everything he’s done to hurt her?

But he already did.  He apologized for using her to get into the vaults, for kidnapping her mom, for hurting people, for all of it.

“There’s nothing else you need to apologize for,” she whispers.  “I’m the one who owes you an apology now.”  She takes a deep breath.  “I’m sorry for not having my dad take the black rocks more seriously.  I’m sorry for not coming to you after the storm.  I’m sorry for not thinking about you and your reasons for wanting the flower, and I’m sorry for breaking my promises.”  Varian smiles up at her.

“Thank you, Princess.  I just hope that we can eventually put this behind us.”  She nodded.

“Friends?”

Varian’s smile falls.  “No, not yet.  I forgive you, but I’m not ready to be your friend again.”  He looks away wistfully.  “Hopefully one day that’ll change.”


End file.
